


A Census of Eventual Family

by Arytra



Series: Section 123 [4]
Category: Sesame Street (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Penelope is often no help, Susan is the best mom in the world, Travis has self-esteem problems, Travis is such a puppy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 03:53:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14824766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arytra/pseuds/Arytra
Summary: Travis is nervous, unsure of himself, and absolutely determined to try to do his job even if it means stepping into the Supernatural Department to get help.  Fortunately, the agent there is willing to help him and Travis is about to get the best support system as well as job he could imagine.





	A Census of Eventual Family

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to switch from broken bird Penelope to absolute puppy in human form Travis was difficult. I hope this works okay.

Travis held his briefcase close to him as he moved through the Supernatural Department of the government. He could overhear the conversations about magic gone wrong and other horrors which he tried to block out. Honestly, he would have been happier not knowing any of this ever existed, but he had been assigned a place that corresponded with this and he would do his job. He swallowed, having never been great with the parts of the government that hid away from the public and yet still involved themselves in the public's every day life without any sort of vote or oversight. Still, he had a job to do and he wasn't sure where else to turn. He'd been assigned to bring in the Census for Sesame Street and he couldn't make heads or tails of the entire thing. He'd thought that having such a small area would have been easier, but he couldn't have been more wrong. He stopped outside the door of a small room with Section 123 in its plaque case and one name below it: Penelope Carson. He took a breath and knocked.

The only inhabitant looked up at him. He gave a tentative wave and smiled slightly when she seemed to look at him in amusement. He could work with amusement. He just needed to keep himself together. “Agent, uh, Carson?” He asked.

“You're looking at her,” the agent answered, getting to her feet.

“I'm Travis Fields. I work in the Census Bureau,” he said. She look of amusement turned to slight pity and his heart sank.

“You're trying to collect the information for Sesame Street?” She asked. He nodded. “I see.”

“Really?” He asked hopefully. “Because I've been trying to go over everything and it isn't adding up right.”

“That sounds like Sesame Street,” she agreed without any sort of malice. Her certainty was the straw that broke the camel's back. He'd been so certain that she could help him understand what he was doing wrong and yet, she was letting him know that there was no light at the end of the tunnel. She seemed just as surprised as he did when he broke down in front of her.

“I can't do it, Agent Carson!” He exclaimed, surprised when she pulled him into a hug. “I tried. I don't know who belongs to which family and the paperwork they sent in is confusing so they asked me to do there and...”

“Travis,” she said gently, then switched as if remember their titles. “Mr. Fields.”

He looked up at her. He hadn't made it to Sesame Street yet even though they'd told him to go see what was going on. Even if he was there, he wasn't sure that he'd be able to figure it out. To his surprise, any amount of amusement was gone and there was just the look of someone who seemed to understand what he was going through. Considering that she was the only one in her section, that was probably the full truth. He waited as she spoke. “I think I might know someone who can help with this,” she said.

“Really?” He asked. She nodded, grabbing her coat and glancing at the time.

“Do you have anywhere you need to be for a while?” She asked. He shook his head. “Good. If we get waylaid by Big Bird, we won't have to worry about time.”

“I saw Mr. Bird's name in the file. It's kind of a weird name,” he mentioned, matching her quick strides.

“It's kind of apt,” she answered.

“Apt, Agent Carson?” He asked. She gave him another smile.

“Why don't you call me Penelope?” She suggested. “It will make everything easier while we're at Sesame Street.”

“Uh... sure, Penelope,” he answered. She led him out and drove out while Travis looked over his paperwork nervously. She didn't bother telling him to relax and he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign. He was also curious about who she could find that could make heads or tails of the information he had. “I appreciate this.”

“Don't worry about it,” she answered. “I needed to visit today anyway.”

“For work,” he said positively. She smirked.

“To get dinner,” she answered. Before he could ask her about that, she parked the car. “We're here.”

He stumbled out and continued to follow her onto the street. It took him about ten seconds to realize just why he'd been having so much trouble. Penelope paused to give him time to take it all in. “Wow.”

“That's a word for it,” she said. Travis' eyes widened as he looked on.

“Is that green-furred person living in a trash can?” He asked.

“That's Oscar. He's a Grouch,” she said easily and paused, looking him as if to evaluate him in some way that he didn't understand. After a second, she seemed to nod to herself and he was certain that was exactly what she had done. She looked him straight in the eye. “Do not listen to Oscar. If he tells you something, ask one of the adults if it's true. Grouches also tend to be, well, grouchy so don't take it personally. Don't wish him a happy day either. He hates that.”

“Is there anything he does like?” Travis asked. She looked thoughtful.

“Trash. Slimey. Everyone on the street, especially Maria though you'll think I'm wrong about that later. His elephant,” she rattled off.

“He has an elephant?” He asked.

“No,” she answered. He relaxed a bit. “He has several elephants.”

“But he lives in a trash can,” Travis said.

“I know,” she answered. She sighed and patted his shoulder. “You'll get used to it. I know it's a lot to take in.”

He figured that that was the understatement of the year but he didn't want to upset her. She headed past the trashcan and to two women sitting on the stairs. “Hi Maria,” she said and, to his surprise, signed as she continued. “Hi Linda. Have either of you seen the Count?”

“Hi Penelope,” Maria answered, glancing over at Linda who shook her head. “Sorry, we haven't.”

“Thanks. I thought we should check here first before heading to his castle,” she said. Travis' eyes widened.

“Castle?” He squeaked. Both of the other two women looked a little worried in his direction.

“Is your friend going to be okay?” Maria asked. Penelope nodded.

“This is Travis. He's trying to figure out the Census information for Sesame Street,” she explained. Linda looked at her and signed something to her. “Exactly. I figured if anyone could help, it's the Count.”

“You didn't mention a castle,” Travis said. “How do I list that on the Census form? One person living in a castle in New York City?”

“The real question is if you're going to have to count his bats,” Penelope said. Maria looked gave her a look.

“You're scaring him,” she warned. Penelope paused and turned to look at him again fully.

“It's a lot to take in,” Penelope told him, continue to sign as she went. “And it's up to you on how you want to handle it. I'm not going to judge you if you meet the Count and then just never come back. But I will tell you that if you calm down and decide to try to learn more about this place without panicking over everything, you're going to love it here. There, Maria, how was that?”

“Almost soothing,” Maria said dryly. Linda gave a sigh that he was pretty sure meant she'd done a good job. Travis found himself smiling between the three of them, somewhat amused by the banter. Linda tried to sign something to him and he looked completely embarrassed.

“I don't understand sign language,” he said quietly. Maria signed it to Linda while giving Penelope a look. Linda reached over and patted his hand before signing something to Penelope who had the grace to look a bit embarrassed.

“Sorry, I forgot not everyone knows sign language,” she signed and said at the same time. Linda signed again and Maria translated this time.

“Linda says that we'll teach you,” Maria said. His eyes lit up.

“I'd like that,” he said eagerly. The smile on all three women's faces told him that that was the correct answer. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

***

Keeping an open mind was a lot harder when you were standing in an old, actual castle talking to someone who had admitted that he was older than was humanly possible and whose entire collection of hobbies involved counting. He enjoyed counting as well, but he couldn't summon the elements when he did so. Penelope looked completely calm about the whole thing, almost bored at times when the Count wasn't looking which made Travis wonder about her capabilities even more if summoning thunder and lightening didn't even phase her. He'd have to read her file later. “I would be happy to take over the work for you,” the Count informed him. “I can see where you were getting lost.”

“I should still look it over when you're done,” he mentioned, glancing at it. “And we're going to need it in triplicate.”

He had thought that that might make the being in front of him think twice, but the Count seemed even happier. “You mean I get to count everything three times!” He exclaimed.

“I think you just made his year,” Penelope informed him, arms folded as she stayed out of the way. The Count looked at her.

“One,” he said. “One sarcastic agent. Ha-ha-ha.” 

Travis jumped at the thunder and lightening. Penelope rolled her eyes. “One, one bored agent,” she corrected. “Come on, Count. Please just let him know you'll do it.”

“One impatient agent,” the Count informed her before looking at Travis. “And one fortunate Census agent. That makes two, two government agents I will help out. Ha-ha-ha. I will fill these out by the end of the week.”

“Thank you!” Travis said looking far less stressed than he had before. Penelope nodded her thanks to the Count before leading Travis out the door. “And thank you, Age... Penelope.”

“You're welcome. But I want my dinner,” she informed him. He paused.

“Penelope?”

“Yes?”

“You don't like me very much do you?” He asked, feeling completely resigned to the face. Penelope turned and looked at him.

“What makes you say that?” She demanded.

“You've been short with me all day, you've made jokes, and you're impatient,” he answered. “I kind of noticed.”

“Oh,” Penelope answered. “Actually, I thought we were getting along fine. I wouldn't have helped you if I didn't like you.”

His eyes lit up. “You like me?” He asked. Penelope sighed.

“I suppose,” she started and he pulled her into a hug that she reluctantly allowed with a sigh. “And we're hugging. You're going to fit in fine here.”

He pulled away and looked at her. “Too much?” He asked honestly, biting his lip. Penelope just sighed.

“No,” she answered, pulling him back into the hug. “I take it you're going to stick around?”

“Will you help me get to know everything?” He pleaded with her. She sighed.

“Yes,” she answered with a look that told even him that she'd decided he was her responsibility now. He just wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing, but he did like the idea of having a friend here. And in his every day life. “Come on. Let's go get dinner.” 

She headed toward Hooper's Store. Travis easily kept up because his legs were longer than hers, but he had the feeling that racing after her was going to be a common occurrence.

***

“Agent Carson, you can't just bring in random people!” Penelope lifted her head up from her work to look her her supervisor and glanced around the office in response to his remark. Travis watched the entire thing from his place on the floor next to her desk. Penelope had requested another chair three times already to no avail and was not listening to his belief that he was fine on the floor.

“What random people?” She asked. He pointed directly at Travis. “Travis isn't random and he needs a chair.”

Travis was pretty certain that forcing the issue when you were being reprimanded was the definition of “not the right time”, but he'd also very quickly picked up on the fact that Penelope didn't seem to care about that. She listened well enough to keep herself from being fired when it came to her supervisors, but he's only seen her listen to Mr. Hooper and that was after what she dubbed a 'proper amount of protest'. He had, however, learned not to get involved here nor there and continued to look through the folders that Penelope kept handing him. He was absolutely certain she didn't really need his help on this and it was her way of helping him get used to everyone but he still helped her pretend like she was being completely professional.

“He doesn't work here, Agent Carson,” her boss said. Travis wished he could be smaller. Penelope looked at him and then at her boss.

“You're making my Census Bureau colleague nervous. It's important that we go over this stuff for important Census reasons. Right, Travis?” She asked.

“Uh, right,” he answered.

“And?” She asked. She wasn't even looking at him and he could imagine the twinkle in her eye.

“And I would, uh, be able to do that better with a chair. Uh, sir,” he offered.

“There, see?” Penelope said. “He needs a chair.”

She handed her boss some papers which he looked over and sighed. “Ben! Get Agent Carson another chair!” He exclaimed and looked back at her. “You're not getting your way every time.”

“No, sir,” she answered sweetly. Another chair was brought in and Travis was left alone with her.

“How did that work?” He asked. Penelope looked at him.

“You listen to me, I'm less adversarial when you're around, and he got the report he wanted a day early,” she answered. “You'll be lucky if they don't put your name on the door.”

Travis was extremely pleased to find out he was lucky when his name still wasn't there a week later.

***

Travis knew exactly two things that mattered the most to him about Sesame Street: One, there was a lovely library nearby that one of the residents, Linda, worked at and she was extremely nice to him. Two, she had the biggest, most fluffy dog he'd ever seen. If there was a third, it was that Linda was perfectly fine with him getting the biggest book he wanted to read, checking it out, and curling up with her dog to read.

Penelope had already started to teach him ASL, easily enough that he could give the proper commands to Barkley to get the dog to listen but also enough that he could ask Linda for help with learning more as well as to have conversations with her. Most important of those conversations involved books and talking about books.

_“Linda, did you know you have a book about rock climbing over here? It got hidden in these books on gardening.”_ He informed her. She looked over and picked up the books.

_“Someone must have put it there instead of bringing it to the front.”_ Linda signed. Travis nodded.

_“They probably realized that there weren't any rocks to climb around here.”_ Travis suggested. _“Only buildings and it's not like you can climb those.”_

Three days later, Penelope just had her head in her hands and kept giving him pity glances as Susan was explaining to his friends what they had done wrong. Penelope leaned in. “Do not give Linda ideas,” she hissed.

“I didn't mean to!” Travis whispered back. “I was just making a suggestion.”

“Penelope, Travis, is there something you'd like to share with the rest of us?” Gordon asked. Travis looked at Penelope in a fit of panic only to watch her look at Gordon in annoyance.

“I'd like to share that I wasn't involved in this and Travis is still learning. He promises he'll be more careful not to give your fully adult children ideas in the future, right Travis?” She asked. Travis just stared at her for a minute before realizing that Gordon and Susan probably wanted an answer.

“I'm really sorry,” he said earnestly. “I didn't know.”

Gordon gave him a gentle smile. “It happens,” he said, giving Penelope a look for her cheek. “You can both go.”

Before they left, Linda did manage to sign that she was sorry to him. He easily signed back that it was okay and followed Penelope out. He just had to make sure that it never happened again.

***

Travis was trying not to wince. He really was. He hadn't really meant to get involved with what the others had been planning, but he had just sort of fell into it. That wasn't what was important though. He'd seen Penelope go along with their ideas. Granted, that was often because Linda tricked her into it, but she still did it. She had shrugged off Gordon and Susan's reprimands in a way he'd never understand. When she wasn't involved, she tended to just stay out of the way and pretend like none of them existed until after they were done dealing with the more adultier adults. This time, however, Susan and Gordon weren't even here.

“What were you thinking?!” Penelope growled at her their friends. He knew his best friend's history considering that he'd read her file himself, but right then, he could believe the stories he'd heard about her before she 'softened' working on Sesame Street. Whoever thought she'd gone soft wasn't watching her right now. “I don't run to Gordon and Susan when you guys decide to try things. Some of the time, I even help distract them for you when I'm not involved. There's an accord. An accord! And a large part of that accord is you do not involve Travis!”

“I'm okay, Penelope,” he offered, trying to calm her wrath. “See?”

“This time,” she said toward him before looking at the others. “Travis is breakable!”

“Thanks for the worry,” David said sardonically. Penelope turned on him.

“You are Protectors. Part of that is a slight healing factor for when you decide to be ridiculous. Travis doesn't have that! If he breaks, we can't just put him back together again!” She said. Maria looked at her apologetically.

“You're not either,” she said softly. Penelope sighed.

“Travis works for the Census Bureau,” she said. “I... well... I don't. Look, Travis doesn't even like trouble, do you?”

Travis looked at the ground and then back at them. “Not really,” he said. “But I liked that you wanted me to be involved.”

Linda was the first one over to him, pulling him into a hug for letting go to sign. _“We can spend time with you in other ways.”_ She assured him. Bob quickly joined her.

“Absolutely. We spend time with Penelope, Susan, and Gordon,” he said quickly. “All you have to do is ask.”

“Yeah. Especially since I think Penelope might literally throw us at Susan and Gordon if we try to involve you again,” David joked. Penelope's look informed him that she absolutely would. She folded her arms.

“I'm not going to tell Susan and Gordon,” she said. “But don't let it happen again.”

With that, she turned on her heel and headed off. Travis and Bob shared a look as David just watched. “Okay, that was a little freaky,” he said. “I've never seen Penelope get like that.”

“She's protective of Travis,” Maria said. “It's sweet.”

“So,” Luis brought up. “She had a point about the healing but not about why it's okay for her to join in.”

Bob and Travis shared another look as Bob looked over at his boyfriend. “Did Penelope ever tell you how she became our agent?”

“Sure,” Luis said. “She was assigned here.”

“I mean why she became an agent in the first place,” Bob said. They shook their head and Travis smiled a bit.

“She got into a 'disagreement' with werewolves,” he answered, turning to follow Penelope and leaving the others to question Bob. He'd had enough excitement for one day.

***

Travis walked into the store shyly. Lunchtime was definitely the best time to try this because all of the people or at least a good number of them were in there at the moment. He took a deep breath and looked at them. “Hi,” he said, wishing that Penelope hadn't taken his note cards away. He waited for the wave of greetings to pass before continuing, making certain to remember to sign. “Penelope and I decided that we spent a lot of time on Sesame Street so having two apartments off the Street is a waste of money. So we decided to rent a place together because she says it's unprofessional or something to move to Sesame Street.”

“Congrats,” David said. “But, uh, why did you need to tell us all at once as an announcement?”

“It's Travis,” Olivia scolded. “He's trying to get to that part.”

Travis made a note that Olivia seemed to understand him pretty well and to keep that in mind for the future. “We could use some help moving and Penelope said you'd probably be more willing to help if I asked for some reason.”

Susan walked over to him, leading him to a chair. He was guessing he looked like he was going to fall over if she was going that far. “Of course we'll help you,” she soothed him. Gordon came over to his other side and patted the younger man's back.

“Just let us know when,” he assured him. There were agreements from the rest of the group and Travis relaxed. As he was readying himself to leave, someone cleared his throat behind him which caused Travis to jump. Mr. Hooper just looked at him in his usual way and held out a piece of paper.

“Give this to Penelope for me, please,” he instructed. Travis just nodded wildly, heading out the door. He paused, realizing that Mr. Hooper hadn't explicitly told him not to open it and unfolded it once he was outside Sesame Street. He was glad he was considering the giggle that the note got from him.

_The next time you want something, Young Lady, you come ask yourself instead of cheating with Travis. -Mr. Hooper._

He wasn't sure what Mr. Hooper meant by cheating, but he completely understood the sentiment.

***

“David!” Travis said a few days later. “I think that Mr. Hooper likes me now.”

“He's always liked you,” David told him. “We all like you. Bob even wrote you a song about it.”

“It was a very nice song. I especially enjoy knowing how all the signs for it while I'm humming it,” Travis said and shook his head to get back on track. “What do you mean Mr. Hooper has always liked me? He never acted like it before.”

David just looked at him. “Sure he did,” he said. “He just showed it like he always shows affection.”

“He did?” Travis asked.

“You live with Penelope, right?”

“Right.”

“And you know she likes you, right?”

“Righ... Oh!” Travis said. “Penelope keeps saying they have nothing in common.”

“Penelope is wrong,” David answered. “They have everything in common.”

“I'm starting to see that.”

***

“Penelope? What should I get Susan for Mother's Day?” Travis asked. Penelope just looked at him in that way that screamed 'why did I let this person move in with me'. Travis ignored it considering he knew that it had an underlying answer of 'because he's my best friend and I want to keep an eye on him because I have the same need to protect my family that Mr. Hooper has not that I'll ever admit it'.

“How many times do I need to explain to the lot of you that Gordon and Susan aren't your parents?” She asked.

“It's not our fault you're wrong on this,” he said. “And I still think it's rude that you don't give Mr. Hooper a card on Father's Day.”

“I have a good reason for that,” she said, trying to stay calm. He recognized it when she was trying her hardest to be patient with him. “He's not my father.”

“So you keep saying,” he muttered. “Look, Susan is everyone's mom. So celebrating Mother's Day is important.”

“Are you going to get something for Gordon too?” She asked.

“Not until Father's Day,” he answered. Penelope just rubbed her eyes. “You don't seem to mind as much when they're scolding everyone.”

“That's needed,” she said. “And they listen to them.”

“That's because they're the Mother and Father of Sesame Street,” he said firmly.

“I don't treat them that way,” she reminded him. He rolled his eyes.

“Of course not,” he said. “That's because you think of them like older siblings. We already talked about your parent on Sesame Street.”

“Travis, for the last time, he's not my father,” she said.

“And the reason that we eat kosher is...” he asked, though his face turned completely sympathetic at her confusion. “You didn't realize?”

“I just never thought about it,” she answered before shrugging it off. “It makes sense. Mr. Hooper shows me what to cook and he's Jewish.”

“I wonder if the others have the same trouble trying to explain to Mr. Hooper that he got a new stand-offish, argumentative daughter for Hanukkah,” he muttered.

“I heard that!” She exclaimed with a glare. “As for Susan, get her some car tools. She likes to fix cars. Or a card. You could just get her a card.”

“I think I'll get her the card,” he said. “I don't know anything about cars.”

Penelope was quiet for a minute and then looked at him. “Then ask her to teach you as a Mother's Day gift,” she said. “She'll appreciate it.”

“Thanks, Penelope.”

“And it will be nice for when the car breaks down.”

“Penelope!”

***

Travis was bookish. There was a reason why Linda was his favorite. She got to control all of the books and he thought that was amazing. Susan and Maria, though, carried with them a different sort of skill that Travis found both amazing and daunting: The ability to fix things than had been broken. He had, in the past, watched Luis and Maria fix an abundance of toasters to the point where he was considerably worried that when Penelope eventually decided to move there, they'd have to start toasting things consistently in the oven since the toaster would always be broken. He couldn't be the only one who realized that there was a broken toaster epidemic on Sesame Street.

That day, however, he was determined to follow Susan's instructions and learn how to fix a broken car. Susan was extraordinarily patient as he tried to learn and continued to ask questions. After all, as they kept telling the young monsters and children, asking questions was a great way to learn things. Once they were finished, he sat back and beamed as the car seemed to almost purr. “And that's how you fix that problem,” she said.

“Thanks, Susan,” he said honestly. “Penelope will probably thank you the next time the car has problems too.”

“I was wondering why she was encouraging it so much,” Susan said with a laugh. Travis had the feeling his friend would be hearing about it later. “Now, why did you decide to try to take up mechanics?”

“Well, I, uh, couldn't think of a different Mother's Day present,” he answered.

“The others gave me cards,” she offered. She motioned for him to continue and he sighed.

“Sometimes,” he admitted. “I think all of your just accept me here because I'm friends with Penelope.”

Susan immediately pulled him into a hug. “Oh Travis,” she said gently. “We don't just accept you here. We love you and not just because you're friends with Penelope. You're enthusiastic and sweet and most of the time, you have a good head on your shoulders. We just need to work on your self-esteem.”

He looked a little sheepish at that. “Penelope sort of said the same thing.”

Susan sighed. “I can imagine how Penelope put it,” she said. Travis was really certain his friend was going to have to listen her 'big sister' for awhile at this point. “She tries, but Penelope isn't the most gentle with what she's trying to say. We all love you. Linda loves having someone who enjoys reading so much, as well as learned sign language so quickly, and visits her in the library. Maria and Luis think it's sweet when you quietly sit with them to try to figure out what they're doing. David enjoys having you around to talk to. And Bob was telling me the other day that you ended up playing with Big Bird for over half the day and he's still not sure which of you were having more fun.”

“Thanks, Susan,” he said, relaxing a bit. He figured he should try to get his best friend off the hook. “And Penelope did try.”

“That's what worries me,” Susan said with an amused smile. “Listen, if you need someone to talk to and reassure you, I'm always here. And so is Gordon.”

“Thanks, Susan.”

***

Travis greeted each of the residents as he moved through the street with an almost bounce to his step as he made his way to find Big Bird. He'd promised to play with the large yellow bird and he was determined to keep that promise. He found him in his nest, seemingly in thought. “Hi Big Bird!” He exclaimed. “Can I come in?”

“Hi Travis,” he answered, waving him in. “I was just thinking.”

“About what?” Travis asked.

“My friend Mr. Snuffleupagus,” he said. “We were supposed to go to the park later today, but he had to stay home because he's sick.”

Travis reached over and patted the bird's hand. “I'm sorry, Big Bird. I don't think I've heard about Mr. Snuffleupagus. Does he live alone?”

“No,” Big Bird answered, brightening up a bit. “He lives with his mom and dad. Do you want to hear about him?”

“You bet I do!” Travis answered. Later that night, he pulled out the Count's report and looked it over. Just as he'd thought, the Count seemed to have missed the Snuffleupagus family. That was alright. The Count probably didn't think that the Cave counted and that was why Travis looked everything over to be on the safe side. He watched as Penelope's light turned off in her room and set his paperwork aside for the night. His job was done and tomorrow, he'd be able to do the best job again with the best people he could have imagined to work with with: His family.


End file.
